1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for dispensing a beverage from a container, and in particular to a computerized dispensing system that controls the amount of the beverage that flows from a bottle when a bartender pours a drink.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bartender commonly pours liquor from a bottle into a glass in which a drink is being served or mixed. A spout is often attached to the mouth of the bottle to dispense the liquor at a relatively constant flow rate so that a bartender can “free pour” the liquor without the need for a measuring device, such as a jigger. Even at a constant flow rate, the exact amount of liquor poured into each drink varies among different bartenders, and also varies from drink to drink poured by the same bartender. Such variation affects the profits derived from a given bottle of liquor; as well as affecting the taste, and as such the quality, of the drink. In addition, simple bottle spouts do not provide any mechanism to ensure that each drink dispensed from a bottle is rung up on the cash register. Thus, a bartender has been able to serve free or generous drinks to friends and preferred customers without accounting to the tavern management.
In response to these conditions, taverns and restaurants have installed computerized systems for dispensing liquor from bottles that control the quantity of liquid being dispensed to predefined portions and automatically report that quantity to a cash register. Such systems prevent the beverage server from pouring too much liquor without the system accounting for the additional amount. These systems ensure that customers are billed for the actual amounts of liquor being served, and that they are served the same high quality, good tasting drink every time.
One such system, described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,468, had a separate pour spout, with a magnetically operated valve, inserted into the mouth of each liquor bottle. When liquor was to be poured from a given bottle, the pour spout was placed inside an actuator ring connected to a computer via a cable. When the bottle and the ring were inverted, a tilt switch closed, causing an electromagnetic driver coil in the ring to be energized. The driver coil produced an electromagnetic field that opened the valve in the pour spout. The valve was held open for a defined period of time which dispensed a given volume of liquor because of a relatively constant flow rate through the pour spout. When that time period expired, the electromagnetic coil was de-energized by the computer and the valve closed.
That previous dispensing system also provided a mechanism for identifying the brand of the beverage that was being poured and to account for the total quantity of the beverage dispensed. This enabled the inventory of the bar to be determined automatically at any instant in time. The mechanism also calculates the dollar value of each drink being served so that the customer was charged the proper amount for the quantity of liquor in the drink served. For this purpose, a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder was embedded in each pour spout. When the pour spout was inserted into the actuator ring, the RFID transponder was interrogated thereby sending an identification signal to an antenna in the actuator ring. The identification signal contained an identifier which was unique to that particular pour spout and thus to the specific brand of liquor. The identifier enabled the computer to determine the type of liquor being dispensed and thus the amount to charge for the drink being served.
Although such prior systems worked very well, they required that each bottle be placed into the actuator ring tethered to the computer by an electrical cable. This limited the area of the bar at which the drinks could be prepared and altered the normal manner in which the drinks were prepared and served. Thus a need exists for a dispensing system that controls and monitors the beverage dispensing in a less intrusive manner.